Tony Giardini has returned to Ivanhoe Mines and has been named president of the Canadian company, which is focusing on base metals and platinum group metals projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.

Giardini, who was most recently executive VP and CFO of Toronto-based Kinross Gold, will succeed Lars-Eric Johansson, who retires as president and CEO at the end of next month.

Commenting on Giardini’s appointment, co-chairperson Robert Friedland said on Wednesday that they had worked closely together at the original Ivanhoe Mines, where Giardini was instrumental in the successful financing, development and construction of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia.

“He is a trusted leader, and I could not be more pleased about his appointment to this critical role as we look to fast-track development at each of our three principal mining projects.”

Prior to the six-and-a-half years Giardini spent at Kinross, he was CFO of the original Ivanhoe Mines, which is now Turquoise Hill Resources. Prior to that, he spent ten years at Placer Dome, where he held a series of senior financial positions.

Meanwhile, Johansson, who has been at the helm of Ivanhoe and its predecessor, Ivanplats, since May 2007, will retire from Ivanhoe on June 30.

“Twelve years ago, we convinced Lars-Eric to help advance our mineral prospects in Southern Africa and take our company public. He successfully led our initial public offering in 2012 that raised $308-million, assembled and oversaw our team of exploration geologists that made the tier-one discoveries at Kamoa-Kakula and Platreef, and skillfully managed the acquisition of the Kipushi project.

“He has built a talented team of exploration, development and finance professionals, and he leaves us on solid ground to quickly progress our three principal projects to production,” said Friedland.